scholarly journals The Gaia-ESO Survey: membership probabilities for stars in 32 open clusters from 3D kinematics

2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (4) ◽  
pp. 4701-4716 ◽  
Author(s):  
R J Jackson ◽  
R D Jeffries ◽  
N J Wright ◽  
S Randich ◽  
G Sacco ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The Gaia-ESO Survey (GES) observed many open clusters as part of its programme to spectroscopically characterize the various Milky Way populations. GES spectroscopy and Gaia astrometry from its second data release are used here to assign membership probabilities to targets towards 32 open clusters with ages from 1 to 3800 Myr, based on maximum likelihood modelling of the 3D kinematics of the cluster and field populations. From a parent catalogue of 14 398 individual targets, 5032 stars with uniformly determined 3D velocities, Teff, log g, and chemistry are assigned cluster membership with probability >0.9, and with an average probability of 0.991. The robustness of the membership probabilities is demonstrated using independent membership criteria (lithium and parallax) in two of the youngest clusters. The addition of radial velocities improves membership discrimination over proper motion selection alone, especially in more distant clusters. The kinematically selected nature of the membership lists, independent of photometry and chemistry, makes the catalogue a valuable resource for testing stellar evolutionary models and investigating the time evolution of various parameters.

2018 ◽  
Vol 615 ◽  
pp. A12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffi X. Yen ◽  
Sabine Reffert ◽  
Elena Schilbach ◽  
Siegfried Röser ◽  
Nina V. Kharchenko ◽  
...  

Context. Open clusters have long been used to gain insights into the structure, composition, and evolution of the Galaxy. With the large amount of stellar data available for many clusters in the Gaia era, new techniques must be developed for analyzing open clusters, as visual inspection of cluster color-magnitude diagrams is no longer feasible. An automatic tool will be required to analyze large samples of open clusters. Aims. We seek to develop an automatic isochrone-fitting procedure to consistently determine cluster membership and the fundamental cluster parameters. Methods. Our cluster characterization pipeline first determined cluster membership with precise astrometry, primarily from TGAS and HSOY. With initial cluster members established, isochrones were fitted, using a χ2 minimization, to the cluster photometry in order to determine cluster mean distances, ages, and reddening. Cluster membership was also refined based on the stellar photometry. We used multiband photometry, which includes ASCC-2.5 BV, 2MASS JHKs, and Gaia G band. Results. We present parameter estimates for all 24 clusters closer than 333 pc as determined by the Catalogue of Open Cluster Data and the Milky Way Star Clusters catalog. We find that our parameters are consistent to those in the Milky Way Star Clusters catalog. Conclusions. We demonstrate that it is feasible to develop an automated pipeline that determines cluster parameters and membership reliably. After additional modifications, our pipeline will be able to use Gaia DR2 as input, leading to better cluster memberships and more accurate cluster parameters for a much larger number of clusters.


2020 ◽  
Vol 633 ◽  
pp. A99 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Cantat-Gaudin ◽  
F. Anders

Context. Many of the open clusters listed in modern catalogues were initially reported by visual astronomers as apparent overdensities of bright stars. As observational techniques and analysis methods continue to improve, some of them have been shown to be chance alignments of stars and not true clusters. Recent publications making use of Gaia DR2 data have provided membership lists for over a thousand clusters, however, many nearby objects listed in the literature have so far evaded detection. Aims. We aim to update the Gaia DR2 cluster census by performing membership determinations for known clusters that had been missed by previous studies and for recently-discovered clusters. We investigate a sub-set of non-detected clusters that, according to their literature parameters, should be easily visible in Gaia. Confirming or disproving the existence of old, inner-disc, high-altitude clusters is especially important as their survival or disruption is linked to the dynamical processes that drive the evolution of the Milky Way. Methods. We employed the Gaia DR2 catalogue and a membership assignment procedure, as well as visual inspections of spatial, proper motion, and parallax distributions. We used membership lists provided by other authors when available. Results. We derived membership lists for 150 objects, including ten that were already known prior to Gaia. We compiled a final list of members for 1481 clusters. Among the objects that we are still unable to identify with the Gaia data, we argue that many (mostly putatively old, relatively nearby, high-altitude objects) are not true clusters. Conclusions. At present, the only confirmed cluster located further than 500 pc away from the Galactic plane within the Solar circle is NGC 6791. It is likely that the objects discussed in this study only represent a fraction of the non-physical groupings erroneously listed in the catalogues as genuine open clusters and that those lists need further cleaning.


2019 ◽  
Vol 489 (3) ◽  
pp. 3093-3101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengyi Shao ◽  
Lu Li

Abstract We have established a mixture model approach to derive the parallax of the Milky Way globular clusters. It avoids the problem of cluster membership determination and provides a completely independent astrometrical solution by purely using the parallax data. This method is validated with simulated clusters of Pancino et al.. We have resolved 120 real globular clusters by the mixture model using parallaxes of the second data release of Gaia . They construct the largest direct parallax sample up to now. In comparison with other direct parallax results based on cluster members, including 75 clusters of Gaia Collaboration, our method presents its accuracy, especially for some particular clusters. A systematic offset of −27.6 ± 1.7 μas, together with a scatter of 22.8 ± 1.3 μas is found in comparison with other indirect parallax measurements. They are consistent with the global value and the variation of the zero-point of current Gaia parallaxes. Distances of several specific nearby globular clusters are discussed while the closest ones can reach high precisions, even taking the systematic error into account.


2020 ◽  
Vol 645 ◽  
pp. A13
Author(s):  
M. Prišegen ◽  
M. Piecka ◽  
N. Faltová ◽  
M. Kajan ◽  
E. Paunzen

Context. Fundamental parameters and physical processes leading to the formation of white dwarfs (WDs) may be constrained and refined by discovering WDs in open clusters (OCs). Cluster membership can be utilized to establish the precise distances, luminosities, ages, and progenitor masses of such WDs. Aims. We compile a list of probable WDs that are OC members in order to facilitate WD studies that are impractical or difficult to conduct for Galactic field WDs. Methods. We use recent catalogs of WDs and OCs that are based on the second data release of the Gaia satellite mission (GDR2) to identify WDs that are OC members. This crossmatch is facilitated by the astrometric and photometric data contained in GDR2 and the derived catalogs. Assuming that most of the WD members are of the DA type, we estimate the WD masses, cooling ages, and progenitor masses. Results. We have detected several new likely WD members and reassessed the membership of the literature WDs that had been previously associated with the studied OCs. Several of the recovered WDs fall into the recently reported discontinuity in the initial-final mass relation (IFMR) around Mi ∼ 2.0 M⊙, which allows for tighter constrains on the IFMR in this regime.


2018 ◽  
Vol 612 ◽  
pp. A99 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Randich ◽  
E. Tognelli ◽  
R. Jackson ◽  
R. D. Jeffries ◽  
S. Degl’Innocenti ◽  
...  

Context. Determination and calibration of the ages of stars, which heavily rely on stellar evolutionary models, are very challenging, while representing a crucial aspect in many astrophysical areas. Aims. We describe the methodologies that, taking advantage of Gaia-DR1 and the Gaia-ESO Survey data, enable the comparison of observed open star cluster sequences with stellar evolutionary models. The final, long-term goal is the exploitation of open clusters as age calibrators. Methods. We perform a homogeneous analysis of eight open clusters using the Gaia-DR1 TGAS catalogue for bright members and information from the Gaia-ESO Survey for fainter stars. Cluster membership probabilities for the Gaia-ESO Survey targets are derived based on several spectroscopic tracers. The Gaia-ESO Survey also provides the cluster chemical composition. We obtain cluster parallaxes using two methods. The first one relies on the astrometric selection of a sample of bona fide members, while the other one fits the parallax distribution of a larger sample of TGAS sources. Ages and reddening values are recovered through a Bayesian analysis using the 2MASS magnitudes and three sets of standard models. Lithium depletion boundary (LDB) ages are also determined using literature observations and the same models employed for the Bayesian analysis. Results. For all but one cluster, parallaxes derived by us agree with those presented in Gaia Collaboration (2017, A&A, 601, A19), while a discrepancy is found for NGC 2516; we provide evidence supporting our own determination. Inferred cluster ages are robust against models and are generally consistent with literature values. Conclusions. The systematic parallax errors inherent in the Gaia DR1 data presently limit the precision of our results. Nevertheless, we have been able to place these eight clusters onto the same age scale for the first time, with good agreement between isochronal and LDB ages where there is overlap. Our approach appears promising and demonstrates the potential of combining Gaia and ground-based spectroscopic datasets.


1995 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
pp. 232-233
Author(s):  
Bambang Hidayat ◽  
Paulus Wiyanto

In order to establish the probability of physical membership of open clusters by means of astrometrical methods, two criteria are used: the position distribution of stars in the sky and their proper motions. Proper motion methods have shown validity from a practical point of view; but are difficult to apply where there is a high ratio of cluster-to-field stars, and in crowded fields of the Milky Way.As a test we have selected the nearby (170–190 pc) Blanco Cluster 1 (1 = 16°, b = −73°) in order to avoid complications arising from crowded fields. Photometric data however, suggests that the diameter of the cluster is rather extended (~ 120 arcsec). This will require a large-field solution, rather than a small-field solution which can be obtained with greater accuracy using Schmidt astrometry (Fresneau 1978; Nakamura & Sekiguchi 1993).


2018 ◽  
Vol 616 ◽  
pp. A2 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Lindegren ◽  
J. Hernández ◽  
A. Bombrun ◽  
S. Klioner ◽  
U. Bastian ◽  
...  

Context. Gaia Data Release 2 (Gaia DR2) contains results for 1693 million sources in the magnitude range 3 to 21 based on observations collected by the European Space Agency Gaia satellite during the first 22 months of its operational phase. Aims. We describe the input data, models, and processing used for the astrometric content of Gaia DR2, and the validation of these resultsperformed within the astrometry task. Methods. Some 320 billion centroid positions from the pre-processed astrometric CCD observations were used to estimate the five astrometric parameters (positions, parallaxes, and proper motions) for 1332 million sources, and approximate positions at the reference epoch J2015.5 for an additional 361 million mostly faint sources. These data were calculated in two steps. First, the satellite attitude and the astrometric calibration parameters of the CCDs were obtained in an astrometric global iterative solution for 16 million selected sources, using about 1% of the input data. This primary solution was tied to the extragalactic International Celestial Reference System (ICRS) by means of quasars. The resulting attitude and calibration were then used to calculate the astrometric parameters of all the sources. Special validation solutions were used to characterise the random and systematic errors in parallax and proper motion. Results. For the sources with five-parameter astrometric solutions, the median uncertainty in parallax and position at the reference epoch J2015.5 is about 0.04 mas for bright (G < 14 mag) sources, 0.1 mas at G = 17 mag, and 0.7 masat G = 20 mag. In the proper motion components the corresponding uncertainties are 0.05, 0.2, and 1.2 mas yr−1, respectively.The optical reference frame defined by Gaia DR2 is aligned with ICRS and is non-rotating with respect to the quasars to within 0.15 mas yr−1. From the quasars and validation solutions we estimate that systematics in the parallaxes depending on position, magnitude, and colour are generally below 0.1 mas, but the parallaxes are on the whole too small by about 0.03 mas. Significant spatial correlations of up to 0.04 mas in parallax and 0.07 mas yr−1 in proper motion are seen on small (< 1 deg) and intermediate (20 deg) angular scales. Important statistics and information for the users of the Gaia DR2 astrometry are given in the appendices.


2012 ◽  
Vol 537 ◽  
pp. A107 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. K. Saito ◽  
M. Hempel ◽  
D. Minniti ◽  
P. W. Lucas ◽  
M. Rejkuba ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 869 (2) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Cordoni ◽  
A. P. Milone ◽  
A. F. Marino ◽  
M. Di Criscienzo ◽  
F. D’Antona ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 618 ◽  
pp. A93 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Cantat-Gaudin ◽  
C. Jordi ◽  
A. Vallenari ◽  
A. Bragaglia ◽  
L. Balaguer-Núñez ◽  
...  

Context. Open clusters are convenient probes of the structure and history of the Galactic disk. They are also fundamental to stellar evolution studies. The second Gaia data release contains precise astrometry at the submilliarcsecond level and homogeneous photometry at the mmag level, that can be used to characterise a large number of clusters over the entire sky. Aims. In this study we aim to establish a list of members and derive mean parameters, in particular distances, for as many clusters as possible, making use of Gaia data alone. Methods. We compiled a list of thousands of known or putative clusters from the literature. We then applied an unsupervised membership assignment code, UPMASK, to the Gaia DR2 data contained within the fields of those clusters. Results. We obtained a list of members and cluster parameters for 1229 clusters. As expected, the youngest clusters are seen to be tightly distributed near the Galactic plane and to trace the spiral arms of the Milky Way, while older objects are more uniformly distributed, deviate further from the plane, and tend to be located at larger Galactocentric distances. Thanks to the quality of Gaia DR2 astrometry, the fully homogeneous parameters derived in this study are the most precise to date. Furthermore, we report on the serendipitous discovery of 60 new open clusters in the fields analysed during this study.


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